Gift giving goes as well as can be expected. Paige opens each present with the deep, painful sense that she doesn't deserve the clothes and the books and the pretty pieces of jewelry she gets. If she sits still long enough, she can still feel the warmth of Memo on her lips and it disgusts her, leaves her itching and desperate to leave the guilt behind. When Sofia sets up a voice chat with Ricardo, it gets worse, however. She's still unsure how he failed to notice the guilt in her voice, the strain on Memo's face.

AJ notices, she thinks Mike does too. But both are good friends and neither say anything, opting to let her have her space as she tries to digest everything that's going on. She's pretty sure Mike will want to discuss it more later, but she can't face it while Ricardo's voice, the look on his face as he told Alberto all about his students and what they're learning, is fresh in her mind.

That night, she can barely sleep. She paces around outside for awhile, ignoring the cool dew on her bare feet and staring up at the night sky. Used to be one of her favorite things to do when Ricardo was next to her, his hands warm and gentle against her skin, his smile brighter than any star or moon. She finds her way to the pond and sinks her hand into the water, remembering when Ricardo had brought her here, how loving and careful he was with her. She releases a shuddering breath and thinks about the New Year, how it's only a few days away. Hopes that 2016 will be less of a painful, emotional roller coaster.

She hugs her knees to her chest and stares out over the water, thinking. Thinking about how far she would go to have her title back, to have Ricardo back in her arms, to not feel this lonely and abandoned, this guilty and horrified at her actions due to it. Days pass slowly and New Years feels like torture. She had been invited to Mike and AJ's for a New Years party and a number of wrestlers are scattered around, along with friends that Mike's picked up over the years, and a few of AJ's too. She watches and listens to people eagerly discussing what they're going to do in the new year... and then turns away at midnight as couples kiss, the only thing she has to hold onto being a sweating glass of champagne.

She's still standing there, hopelessly alone, when there's a soft tap on her shoulder. She swallows and turns to find herself eye to eye with Mike. He smiles at her sadly and hands her a fresh drink, something a little stronger now, fruity and brisk and smelling of rum, and he leans in, chastely kissing her on the cheek. "Happy New Years, Paige." He winks at her before pulling away and returning to AJ, who is sipping slowly from sparkling grape juice, lifting the glass towards her in a toast that she quietly reciprocates before gulping half of the glass down in one go, relieved that, despite everything, they're still her friends. They're still there, no matter what she does or says.

Since she's staying at Mike's house for a day or two, she makes her way back over to the bar and orders another, relieved when the bartender doesn't react at all to the request, simply pouring it for her.

Once the affects of the party wears off, her hangover- that she had earned by drinking more than she had since leaving Britain to take her chances at a WWE career- fading away slowly over the weekend, she takes a plane back to Florida. She's been informed she's not needed for Smackdown, or Raw the following week, so it's an easy choice to go home. She sits with Sofia, helping with cooking and taking down the Christmas decorations, whatever else the housekeeper needs.

She doesn't mention to the housekeeper things she's seen on Twitter about earthquakes and attacks, and how much danger Ricardo could possibly be in as his time in India slowly winds down, the two month countdown officially beginning. Carries the weight of this around quietly, pondering just how much of it is karma for her actions- pretending to be engaged to Kevin, and then... and then kissing Memo.

Every night she's home, she goes to their spot by the pond and slips her feet into the water, kicking it back and forth lazily. "Please be safe," she murmurs, staring up at the stars. "Please... come back to me, whole and healthy. Please..." She swallows down a sob. "Please forgive me."